The process of extrusion comprising charging solid extrudable material, such as rubber, to a heated chamber of an extruder is well known to those of skill in the art. The material to be extruded is heated within the chamber to a flowable state and forced from the extruder by a rotatable screw mechanism. The extrudate material is formed to a desired cross-sectional profile configuration as it flows through an opening in a die assembly which is interconnected with the extruder. The extrudate material having the desired profile is then removed from the die assembly via a conventional conveyer or handling system.
The discovery of a new and improved method and apparatus for continuously manufacturing curved or bent extrusions having undistorted cross-sectional profiles, is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,171, issued Mar. 6, 1990 to Miller (assigned to the assignee of the present application). Further innovations were also made to another apparatus for manufacturing extrudate, as set forth in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/478,373, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,885, to Miller and Stevenson (also assigned to the assignee of the present application). The invention of this application eliminated problems which had previously existed in connection with changing the profile and/or material of an extruder die assembly in order to manufacture a different profile extrusion of a different material.
Despite these important innovations, problems still exist with respect to adjustment of the dimensions of the extrudate profile to obtain extrusions having specified and desired measurements. In the event the extruded material manufactured via conventional die assemblies does not meet the desired specifications, the die plate or other aspect of the die assembly obtained. Typically, the extruder must be shut down in order to make the necessary adjustments.